Welcome to Bimmerfest -- The #1 Online Community for BMW related information! Please enjoy the discussion forums below and share your experiences with the 200,000 current, new and past BMW owners. The forums are broken out by car model and into other special interest sections such as BMW European Delivery and a special forum to voice your questions to the many BMW dealers on the site to assist our members!

I ordered new tires this morning. I decided to go with Michelin Pilot Sport 2 ZP. I was going to get the "W" speed rating but unfortunatly the size I need for the rear are on national back order with no production date available. I ordered "W" rating for the front and "Y" rated for the rear.
I'll give my report on them in a week or so after they're on the car.

My new tires were mounted yesterday. While I haven't driven on any twisty roads yet, I can for sure say that the new tires are definitely quieter and smoother. I didn't realize the amount of road noise there was from the original Bridgestonetires until switching to the Michelin Pilot Sport 2 tires.
The man at the tire shop suggested that I'd likely get better wear life from the Michelintires as well. My car hit 19,000 miles just two days before the new tires were mounted and I still had a fair amount of tread on the front tires. Assuming that I continue to use Michelins, I'll just replace the front and rear tires as needed in the future.

I have the Michelin PS2 ZP on my 335is, they are great tires that last significantly longer than the Bridgestone 050 Potenza RFT. However, today I ordered the Bridgestone 3rd gen runflat for my Z4. They are Potenza RE960AS Pole Position RFT 91W 400 AA A all season. My dealer quoted $209 for 225/45/17 which is less than Tirerack. ( $215 ).

The dealer is a Firestone dealer. I can't give you any comparisons because I haven't got the new tires yet, they had to order them, but from everything I've read they ride great and are quiet, See the tirerack review. You 88 635 brings back memories of my 1980 633csi which was a real head turner back then.http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....1&autoModel=Z4 sDrive30i Base Model&autoModClar=Built On or After 9/10&tab=Tests

The dealer is a Firestone dealer. I can't give you any comparisons because I haven't got the new tires yet, they had to order them, but from everything I've read they ride great and are quiet, See the tirerack review. You 88 635 brings back memories of my 1980 633csi which was a real head turner back then.http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....1&autoModel=Z4 sDrive30i Base Model&autoModClar=Built On or After 9/10&tab=Tests

When you said "dealer", I assumed you were referring to your BMW dealer. It is nice to see tire dealers are trying to stay competitive with TireRack, this is good for consumers that are not comfortable ordering online and then trying to find a reputable installer. Let us know how you like your new tires.

I have the Michelin PS2 ZP on my 335is, they are great tires that last significantly longer than the Bridgestone 050 Potenza RFT. However, today I ordered the Bridgestone 3rd gen runflat for my Z4. They are Potenza RE960AS Pole Position RFT 91W 400 AA A all season. My dealer quoted $209 for 225/45/17 which is less than Tirerack. ( $215 ).

I'm surprised to see that you're putting all seasons on your Z4. I'd think that you would decrease some of the car's handling characteristics. Probably not fair to compare them with the 050's as they are in different tire categories.

I'm running A/S tires (Yokohama ENVigor) on my Z4 as well. For me, it is a weekend touring car and I want to be able to drive it safely in cold temperatures and if I get caught in an unexpected snow squall as I do not plan to drive it in the snow. For me, the A/S tires provide a good compromise of handling, ride quality and treadwear.

I'm surprised to see that you're putting all seasons on your Z4. I'd think that you would decrease some of the car's handling characteristics. Probably not fair to compare them with the 050's as they are in different tire categories.

I'm just trying these AS tires. My wife drives the Z4 mostly, my car is a 335is. I like the Michelin PS2 ZP. We'll see how it goes.

What is the rationale behind choosing different speed ratings for the fronts and rears?

As mentioned in a previous post, the size I need for the rear was on national backorder for "W" rating. There is no problem mixing ratings as long as the higher rated tire is on the rear. Assuming the tires continue to wear as they have, I'll need new rear tires several thousand miles before I'll need to replace the front tires. Having "W" rated tires on the front will allow me to replace the rears with "W" rated tires as well. The "Y" rated tires were about $40.00 a tire more if I remember correctly.
The Michelintires are worlds apart from the original equipment Bridgestonetires, far superior in handling, comfort and road noise. (I actually thought the car was pretty comfortable before the Michelintires.)

They were backordered so I don't have them. I had to replace 2 with the oem Bridgestones because of this. I think they will be available sometime this month but I won't need any new tires until later this year and then I'm going to try them unless they have a 3rd gen runflat in a summer tire or I may just get the Michelin PS2 ZP that I have on the 335is which I like.

So today I got 2 255/35-18 Bridgestone Potenza RE960AS Pole Position RFTs for the rears on my 335is. These are the 3rd gens. As I posted previously they weren't available when I needed tires for my Z4. They replaced worn out Michelin PS2 ZP. The 1st thing I noticed was there was much less road noise. Part of that could be because the Michelins were down to 2-3 32nds. The ride was softer and felt kind of wierd. I need to get the fronts as well to really evaluate. These tires have a 40,000 mile or 5 years tread wear warranty. I checked Tirerack, a local Firestone dealer, and Costco. Tirerack was $317, the local guy was $309, and Costco was $299.99. Costco only charges $16 per wheel to mount and balance plus they give you free road hazard and nitrogen fill. The Michelins had 23,657 miles on them. The Bridgestone RE50s on my Z4 are lucky to last 18,000 on the rears.

This was my 335is. The car just floated down the road, it felt like a Lincoln I once had as a loaner. Around a corner it seemed like it was slipping. It's possible they would have improved after a break in period but I didn't want to find out. My theory is that because the ride was so bad the 1st few years with RFT BMW softened the suspension and worked with the tire manufacturers to improve it. My '06 Z4 3.0si rode like a stagecoach. Both my '11 cars have a comfortable ride. When you put a softer AS tire on it is then too soft.